“The Russian Defense Ministry carried out a whole range of measures to mislead the Armed Forces of Ukraine, created the illusion that we have ‘weak defense’…now the main task is to defeat the group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, military expert Konstantin Sivkov told VZGLYAD newspaper. On Saturday, the Defense Ministry announced the regrouping of troops in the areas of Balakleya and Izyum.

‘Our military knew that an offensive was being prepared, so now the troops are regrouping to destroy the group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), which came to the areas of Balakleya and Izyum. It should be borne in mind that there are no fortified areas there, so the task of destroying the most combat-ready Ukrainian units will be solved quite successfully. This will take a few more days,’ said Konstantin Sivkov, Doctor of Military Sciences.

The expert emphasized that over the past three days, as it became known from the Defense Ministry’s report, more than 2 thousand Ukrainian and foreign militants, as well as over a hundred armored vehicles and artillery were destroyed. ‘The Armed Forces of Ukraine suffer large daily losses. Now the main task is to defeat the advancing group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, deprive it of its potential, knock out equipment that is located not in cities and fortified areas, but in open spaces. The Armed Forces of Ukraine should not have the strength and means to conduct an effective defense,’ the source explained.

On Saturday, the official representative of the Ministry of Defense, Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov, announced the regrouping of Russian troops in the areas of Balakleya and Izyum within three days “to achieve the stated goals of the special military operation to liberate Donbass.” Konashenkov also noted that during the transfer, diversionary and demonstration activities were carried out with the designation of real actions of the troops. “In order to prevent damage to the Russian troops, the enemy was dealt a powerful fire defeat with the use of aircraft, rocket troops and artillery,” the Lieutenant General added.

Sivkov emphasizes that the diversionary maneuvers were carried out in order to “pull the AFU strike group out of the fortified areas.” “If this group would have remained in Slavyansk or Kramatorsk, how many would have had to” pick out ” it? And now it’s in the palm of your hand. Therefore, a whole complex of measures was carried out to mislead the enemy, creating the illusion that we have weak defenses in this area and allegedly there is no information about the preparation of the offensive. The enemy was misled about the location and actions of our troops, ” the expert added.

Source: link to translated.turbopages.org